Plus plenty more semi-reliable rumors regarding Microsoft's plans.

The system update does not turn the system white... only the employee models do that.

Update (Feb. 3): In a tweeted response to a question about whether rumors of a $399 Xbox One were true, Microsoft Devices and Studios Group Chief of Staff Aaron Greenberg said "No, you cannot believe everything you read on the internet." That sounds quite a bit like a firm denial to us, but it could be read as just a discounting of rumors in general. Either way, it's interesting and rare to get something more than a "no comment" from Microsoft regarding any rumors.

Original Story

If we reported on every gaming-related rumor out there, we would have no time to do anything else. Seriously, for every rumor we decide to pass on to you, there are probably a dozen we dismiss out of hand as thinly sourced or just plain hard to believe (See here for more on the shady background of just one such recent rumor).

That said, the bevy of Xbox One-related rumors that have been leaking onto the Internet this week are getting too big to ignore. The source this time around is a mysterious poster going by the handle ntkrnl on popular gaming forum NeoGAF. Long-time forum moderator bishoptl has "cleared" ntkrnl as a reliable source, meaning he has confirmed the poster's ties to internal Microsoft information in private communications (an unnamed Kotaku source also confirmed to the site that ntkrnl is "connected to Microsoft"). Other "verified" rumors posted on NeoGAF have had a mixed record of accuracy, and even with reliable sourcing, plans can change between the time a rumor is reported and the time a company makes an announcement.

With all that out of the way, what have we learned from this latest rumor dump? Let's start with the bits that have been corroborated by other sources. Most intriguingly, VG247 has confirmed with a "well-respected... senior publishing source" that a cheaper version of the Xbox One is coming sometime this year. That means a new model for the hardware, not just a price reduction on the existing $499 configuration for the system. NeoGAF's ntkrnl says that new system could come in at $399, but that price hasn't been verified elsewhere.

Meanwhile, over at the Verge, unnamed sources have reportedly confirmed an ntkrnl report that Microsoft is looking into a disc-drive-free version of the Xbox One. That follows reports from earlier this month that the company was considering releasing a disc-free Xbox One as late as June of 2013. The Verge also confirmed reports that Microsoft will be releasing a white edition of the console (matching the previous employees-only exclusive white model) later this year, that a major dashboard update is coming to the system in March, and that an Xbox One with a 1TB hard drive is being prepared for a November release.

Over at NeoGAF, ntkrnl has offered up many more nuggets of information that have yet to be verified by additional sources. Those include a 1080p "anniversary" remake for Halo 2 in November (which will include access to a Halo 5 beta), DLC for Titanfall coming as soon as 45 days after launch, a 2015 release for Fable Legends, and a detailed list of launch dates for the Xbox One in various countries.

Whether all those things come to pass or not, Microsoft doesn't seem happy with this information being leaked. Kotaku reports that "one person familiar with the situation" said that Microsoft is trying to track down and "looking to take legal action" against the leaker. That doesn't mean anything about the veracity of these claims, of course, but it does suggest the obvious: that Microsoft isn't happy not being in full control of the information stream these days.

Promoted Comments

I would take all these leaks with a ton of salt, considering the recent CBOAT insider fiasco that happened at NeoGAF earlier this week and then suddenly a new insider with tons of Xbox leaks show up. Also, MS may just be getting fed up with the amount of false leaks coming from this site, specially a leak that can hurt the Xbox bottom line (a cheaper Xbox coming this year).

Would the retailers even sell such a thing? Margins on consoles are terrible, it's the game and accessories where they make their profit.

Retailers also sell a surprising number of digital currency cards and DLC claim cards to customers without credit cards (or who aren't comfortable giving their CC info on the internet) so it wouldn't completely undercut their brick and mortar business.

How many of the major titles are actually available in downloadable format though? Whether or not it's practical to be able to download a game is more of a secondary concern to whether you can actually play the game you want, or if it's only available in disk format.

And yeah, the point about retailers not wanting to stock the thing is a good point. It's like if razor companies wanted stores to only sell the razors themselves, not the much more profitable replacement blades.

Would the retailers even sell such a thing? Margins on consoles are terrible, it's the game and accessories where they make their profit.

Retailers also sell a surprising number of digital currency cards and DLC claim cards to customers without credit cards (or who aren't comfortable giving their CC info on the internet) so it wouldn't completely undercut their brick and mortar business.

While not a focus of their store anymore, GameStop does offer Steam Wallet cards, including promoting trade in bonuses for them.

It would undercut them being able to buy back the game after you played it. Unless MS puts in their original digital plan that allowed digital sharing and trades.

How many of the major titles are actually available in downloadable format though? Whether or not it's practical to be able to download a game is more of a secondary concern to whether you can actually play the game you want, or if it's only available in disk format.

And yeah, the point about retailers not wanting to stock the thing is a good point. It's like if razor companies wanted stores to only sell the razors themselves, not the much more profitable replacement blades.

Not 100% sure what the One has, but the PS4 all major titles if not all PS4 games are available in digital format. Sony has been also promoting pre-order digital and pre-load the game before release.

How many of the major titles are actually available in downloadable format though? Whether or not it's practical to be able to download a game is more of a secondary concern to whether you can actually play the game you want, or if it's only available in disk format.

All disc-based games are available for download as well, so no issue there. Of course not being able to upgrade the drive easily in the Xbox One may be a concern for those going all digital.

Considering the state of broadband North America I can't see this gaining as much traction as Microsoft hopes. I am all for what they are trying to do, and see the benefits of their vision, but it is only going to make regular people mad when they realize it is going to take 3 days to download their favorite game, nullifying the benefit of not having to get off their butt to go to the store and get it. And as Ars reported, <10Mbps is the norm 'round here.

Still too much uncertainty with going all-digital. You never quite know when a digital purchase will get "lost" on account of some change or failure at the server end. When you're talking about a $60 piece of software rather than a $0.99 song file, that matters.

If downloaded games were priced with that potential for failure in mind, it'd be one thing -- but they tend to be priced like retail discs and don't come down in price nearly as quickly.

A cheaper download only console would be great if you live in an area with acceptable broadband and already have a BluRay player.

Not to mention that only having the option to download your games limits your purchasing options. What if a certain game is cheaper to order through Amazon.com than it is to buy the digital version?

I can't speak for XBL, but PSN has had some truly steam-like sales over the last 12 months. Not new games mind you, but even relatively newer games have been dirt cheap. I think it makes sense to nurture the impulse buy with markdowns, I think Amazon pricing is only going to be competitive for those who still buy disc based games.

The article didn't make it clear to me that you meant "without a drive for removable media". I had to follow the links to distinguish between that and "using pure SSD, with no spinning magnetic platters, for long-term internal storage".

(And yeah, Do Not Want. I'd say that I'd be more tempted by a Kinect-free model, but I find myself doubting they'll be able to tempt me into getting an XB1 at this point. What I want is simply too different from what they're trying to push. Though we'll see.)

Not to mention the whole problem brought to the fore by the downfall of GFWL. Exactly how long will you keep your games? I can still play my old NES games in my old NES (God bless its little microchips). My Sega carts and SNES carts are good. PS1 disks emulate wonderfully. PS2 works swimmingly. Original xBox still kicking. No RRoD on my 360. Yea, I'll keep my discs if you don't mind.

Considering the state of broadband North America I can't see this gaining as much traction as Microsoft hopes. I am all for what they are trying to do, and see the benefits of their vision, but it is only going to make regular people mad when they realize it is going to take 3 days to download their favorite game, nullifying the benefit of not having to get off their butt to go to the store and get it. And as Ars reported, <10Mbps is the norm 'round here.

Possible, too, that Microsoft has the larger world in mind as a target market, and not *just* North America.

A cheaper download only console would be great if you live in an area with acceptable broadband and already have a BluRay player.

I wish there was a discount program for XBL subscriptions for buying them in bulk. Perhaps if you buy a 3 year subscription to the service it can cost $120 ($40 a year) instead of $60.

You could attract the penny pinching crowd and make more $ in the short term that way.

If you pay any attention at all, finding the 1 year subscriptions individually for $40 is still pretty easy. Just FYI if you're actually in the market. I have literally never paid the MSRP for Live in...5+ years. Gah, I can't even remember exactly when I got my system anymore. I must be old.

I wish there was a discount program for XBL subscriptions for buying them in bulk. Perhaps if you buy a 3 year subscription to the service it can cost $120 ($40 a year) instead of $60.

You could attract the penny pinching crowd and make more $ in the short term that way.

I have yet to pay more than $40 for a year's sub, because I've been lucky enough to run into enough sales on them through Amazon or some other reseller. They can stack 3 years in advance...I had to wait a few months once in order to put the final code in to redeem that 3rd year because it would've put me over the 3 year mark. In fact, Amazon has them on sale right now:

Not 100% sure what the One has, but the PS4 all major titles if not all PS4 games are available in digital format. Sony has been also promoting pre-order digital and pre-load the game before release.

Many games are also digital-version only. FFX-2 HD is an example (although ironically, FFX HD is disc/cartridge-only?). Also, digital versions on PSN open up the possibility of cross-buy and cross-discounting (more useful on sony platforms with Vita/PS4 cross-play than Xbone, which only has the one product).

Giving gamers the option of sacrificing disc compatibility if they are uninterested in physical copies and/or blu-ray playback sounds like it'll be a good thing, as long as both the disc and discless version of the console exist. Choose your poison.

Still too much uncertainty with going all-digital. You never quite know when a digital purchase will get "lost" on account of some change or failure at the server end. When you're talking about a $60 piece of software rather than a $0.99 song file, that matters.

If downloaded games were priced with that potential for failure in mind, it'd be one thing -- but they tend to be priced like retail discs and don't come down in price nearly as quickly.

I think from the Twitter Haxor article Ars ran the other day, I'd be more worried about someone easily just stealing my account. I could debate with MS (or Steam) about it all day, and likely they would just lock the account. So, someone wouldn't steal it to get the games, but they could steal it to make my life very miserable.

A cheaper download only console would be great if you live in an area with acceptable broadband and already have a BluRay player.

Not to mention that only having the option to download your games limits your purchasing options. What if a certain game is cheaper to order through Amazon.com than it is to buy the digital version?

I can't speak for XBL, but PSN has had some truly steam-like sales over the last 12 months. Not new games mind you, but even relatively newer games have been dirt cheap. I think it makes sense to nurture the impulse buy with markdowns, I think Amazon pricing is only going to be competitive for those who still buy disc based games.

Looks like Microsoft might be taking the Apple approach, since the strong arm tactic met with such criticism leading up to the XBO launch.

When Apple released the Macbook Air, it was an experiment to see whether consumers would be ok with a disc-less laptop. It was such a resounding success, that they have now (much to the chagrin of many) adopted this move to the Macbook Pro, and I assume are working to remove disc drives from all of their computers in the coming years.

If MS can make a success of a disc-less version of the XB, they would have a case to go all digital in the future, rather than force it on the consumer now. Problem is, like mentioned already, broadband around most places isn't up to the task, and the digital market is a poor reflection of the physical market in terms of prices dropping over time.

I can't speak for XBL, but PSN has had some truly steam-like sales over the last 12 months. Not new games mind you, but even relatively newer games have been dirt cheap. I think it makes sense to nurture the impulse buy with markdowns, I think Amazon pricing is only going to be competitive for those who still buy disc based games.

On the Vita at least, I've seen 75% sales on Guacamelee, Spelunky, Rainbow Moon this past holiday break. Also got Persona 4 Golden for 33% off, Dragon's Crown for 50% and Tearaway for ~55% discount. And with Vita Play, the 4 launch games this month are 20% off in first week and scaling cashback the more games you buy (bringing the potential discount up to the 30-something % range).

Mind you, Amazon also has discounts on digital game downloads for PSN (not sure about XBL) from time to time, it's not as if it's only the disc-based games that get discounted.

I wish there was a discount program for XBL subscriptions for buying them in bulk. Perhaps if you buy a 3 year subscription to the service it can cost $120 ($40 a year) instead of $60.

You could attract the penny pinching crowd and make more $ in the short term that way.

I have yet to pay more than $40 for a year's sub, because I've been lucky enough to run into enough sales on them through Amazon or some other reseller. They can stack 3 years in advance...I had to wait a few months once in order to put the final code in to redeem that 3rd year because it would've put me over the 3 year mark. In fact, Amazon has them on sale right now:

My point was that while semi-common, Microsoft should have an officially sanctioned program that guarantees a discount, so you don't have to keep a hawk eye on your email every time you want to renew your subscription.

Not 100% sure what the One has, but the PS4 all major titles if not all PS4 games are available in digital format. Sony has been also promoting pre-order digital and pre-load the game before release.

Many games are also digital-version only. FFX-2 HD is an example (although ironically, FFX HD is disc/cartridge-only?). Also, digital versions on PSN open up the possibility of cross-buy and cross-discounting (more useful on sony platforms with Vita/PS4 cross-play than Xbone, which only has the one product).

Giving gamers the option of sacrificing disc compatibility if they are uninterested in physical copies and/or blu-ray playback sounds like it'll be a good thing, as long as both the disc and discless version of the console exist. Choose your poison.

FFX will be available digitally for Vita as well. And there is a physical version of FFX-2 for Vita it's only in Japanese though where it was sold separately from FFX. Square probably realized few people in NA would pay $80 for versions of FFX and FFX-2 on Vita so they made X-2 a digital bundle to save costs.

I would take all these leaks with a ton of salt, considering the recent CBOAT insider fiasco that happened at NeoGAF earlier this week and then suddenly a new insider with tons of Xbox leaks show up. Also, MS may just be getting fed up with the amount of false leaks coming from this site, specially a leak that can hurt the Xbox bottom line (a cheaper Xbox coming this year).

A cheaper download only console would be great if you live in an area with acceptable broadband and already have a BluRay player.

Not to mention that only having the option to download your games limits your purchasing options. What if a certain game is cheaper to order through Amazon.com than it is to buy the digital version?

I can't speak for XBL, but PSN has had some truly steam-like sales over the last 12 months. Not new games mind you, but even relatively newer games have been dirt cheap. I think it makes sense to nurture the impulse buy with markdowns, I think Amazon pricing is only going to be competitive for those who still buy disc based games.

But there's no download only playstation.

Well the PSP Go is a download only PlayStation... It was a horrible flop though with many retailers refusing to sell it and had the problem of many games(several of the best too) for PSP being simply unavailable to download and well being a PSP...

Kyle Orland / Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in Pittsburgh, PA.